EachStep Blackburn, a new pioneering £5m specialist dementia care service, invited students from Tauheedul Islam Girls’ School and Blackburn College to share their treasured memories in a special time capsule project. This symbolised how EachStep is connected to its local community and cherishes the memories of the people it supports. This project has been captured in a special video, which has been launched on YouTube today (Thursday 21st July).

EachStep Blackburn, which is part of the national social care charity Community Integrated Care, is one of Britain’s most innovative dementia care services. It provides specialist residential, nursing, respite and end-of-life care, and was opened in May by David Behan CBE, Chief Executive of Care Quality Commission. EachStep Blackburn applies a leading model of care and approach to community engagement.

The home has developed thriving partnerships with both educational establishments, providing their students with opportunities for paid and voluntary work experience, as well as giving their Health and Social Care students free specialist dementia training.

The students generously contributed objects to the time capsule that have personal significance to them, which represented their youth, culture and community. This included a teddy bear, which had been a student’s treasured childhood possession; awards that the students had achieved; hand and footprints of a sibling who passed away as an infant; and a niqab.

Community Integrated Care commissioned the leading video agency, Jack-All Productions, to develop a special film for this project, which has been launched on their YouTube channel today (www.youtube.com/c/CommunityIntegratedCareTV). The moving film demonstrates, by using poetry, how precious our memories are and how proud the students were to be part of this moment in history.

Kelly Forshaw, Communications Manager at Jack-All Productions, says: “It was amazing to see how much thought the students had put into choosing their objects and how excited they were to be involved. To reflect this, we developed a poem to encapsulate their memories and recorded this with the students. We hope the film will help raise awareness about dementia and inspire other young people to reflect on memories which are important to them.”

Deeba Ahmed, Teacher of BTEC Health and Social Care at Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School and Sixth Form College says: “Tauheedul students felt very privileged to have taken part in the launch of the time capsule at EachStep Blackburn. It has been a very worthwhile experience, enabling them to think beyond the classroom and capture moments in history, leaving behind a memorable legacy. Community Integrated Care and EachStep Blackburn have done a fantastic job to connect with the Blackburn community.”

Nicola Cunningham, Head of Studies for Health Sciences at Blackburn College, says: “This work experience highlighted to our students the career opportunities in social care, social work and nursing. Our students have limited knowledge of dementia care and this project has enabled them to see it can be an extremely fulfilling and rewarding career, and witness how a high level of care can make such a difference.”

John Hughes, Head of Communications and Marketing at Community Integrated Care, says: “EachStep Blackburn is a true hub of the local community, where we are connected to local groups who make a difference in society and can enhance our service. Our partnerships with Tauheedul and Blackburn College are vital, so we wanted to celebrate these by inviting the students to leave a permanent legacy in our home. We hope they enjoyed being part of this moment in history and feel proud to be featured in such a special film.”